Burtele foot
Burtele foot is the name for eight related fossil bones from the right foot of an individual interpreted as hominin , which were discovered in the center of the Afar region in Ethiopia . Burtele 1 and Burtele 2 are two paleontological excavation sites in Woranso-Mille - research area, just 50 kilometers north of Hadar and Gona . The foot bones were scientifically described for the first time in March 2012 in Nature . The approximately 3.4 million year old fossils are the first evidence that in addition to Australopithecus afarensis another - so far nameless - species of prehistoric humans lived in today's Afar region.
The finds are exclusively the forefoot bones, namely the completely preserved metatarsal bones of the 1st, 2nd and 4th toes , the head of the metatarsal bone of the 3rd toe, the completely preserved basic limbs (phalanges proximales) of the 1st, 2nd toe and 4th toe as well as the completely preserved middle phalanx (phalanx media) of the 2nd toe (archive number BRT-VP-2 / 73a to h from the excavation site Burtele 2).
According to the descriptions of the excavators around Yohannes Haile-Selassie , the bones differ in essential characteristics considerably from the fossils ascribed to Australopithecus afarensis ; rather, the bones have features that suggest an anatomical proximity to the much older Ardipithecus ramidus . This applies in particular to the first toe (the big toe), which - as with the 4.4 million year old fossil Ardi - could be spread widely; the owner of the foot could therefore hold on to branches with the help of his big toes during his lifetime. A special feature is also that the metatarsal bone of the fourth toe is longer than the metatarsal of the second toe, which so far neither Australopithecus still with Ardipithecus was observed, but rather in phylogenetically much older apes of the Miocene such as in Proconsul . All bones are also relatively long and slightly curved, which also suggests a tree-dwelling way of life, at least at times.
The preliminary assignment of the "in some ways ape-like foot" to a type of hominini - that is, to early relatives of the immediate ancestors of man - was made primarily because the foot bones were to be clearly differentiated from the characteristics of the monkey relatives ; on the other hand, there are considerable similarities with the gorillas (but not with the chimpanzees ), but predominantly the characteristics ascribed to the early hominini. This includes in particular the contact points between the bones, from which “several indications of evolutionary adaptation to the upright gait ” were derived.
When they were scientifically described in spring 2012, the fossils were not assigned to a specific genus or species.
Web links
- Burtele foot indicates Lucy not alone. Discovery of partial foot skeleton could mean hominin species lived side by side. On: eurekalert.org of April 2, 2012 (with images)
- One foot in the past. On: nature.com from March 29, 2012 (video about find and location)
- Cleveland Museum of Natural History: "Lucy" Lived Among Close Cousins: Discovery of Foot Fossil Confirms Two Human Ancestor Species Co-Existed. ( Memento from February 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (with images)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The lemma is based on the term Burtele foot , which was chosen in the accompanying article by Nature for the first description of the fossil, see: Daniel E. Lieberman: Those feet in ancient times. In: Nature . Volume 483, 2012, pp. 550-551, doi: 10.1038 / 483550a
- ^ Yohannes Haile-Selassie et al .: A new hominin foot from Ethiopia shows multiple Pliocene bipedal adaptations. In: Nature. Volume 483, 2012, pp. 565-569, doi: 10.1038 / nature10922
- ^ A b Daniel E. Lieberman: Those feet in ancient times , p. 551